| Great Caesar's bust |
[May. 26th, 2012|04:25 am] |
Hm, a possible influence?
In Time of Pestilence
Adieu, farewell earth's bliss!
This world uncertain is:
Fond are life's lustful joys,
Death proves them all but toys.
None from his darts can fly;
I am sick, I must die —
Lord, have mercy on us!
[....]
Beauty is but a flower
Which wrinkles will devour;
Brightness falls from the air;
Queens have died young and fair;
Dust hath closed Helen's eye;
I am sick, I must die —
Lord, have mercy on us!
Strength stoops unto the grave,
Worms feed on Hector brave;
Swords may not fight with fate;
Earth still holds ope her gate;
Come, come! the bells do cry;
I am sick, I must die —
Lord, have mercy on us!
[....]
-- Thomas Nashe |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 12th, 2012|09:06 pm] |
ETA: I have no idea what this was supposed to be or why I chose to boost this signal, whatever it was. ;-)
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| Fairy tale morals |
[May. 6th, 2012|10:05 am] |
Actually the moral/lesson thing was usually added by the c. Victorian editors, and often the older story changed to fit a moral. Or the moral would stupidly NOT fit, as with Bluebeard.
ETR: To remove reference to a flocked post. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 15th, 2012|05:37 am] |
(Lifted from Angevin, hers is the comment below.)
The lowest trees have tops
Attrib. Sir Edward Dyer
The lowest trees have tops, the ant her gall,
The fly her spleen, the little spark his heat;
Hairs cast their shadows, though they be but small,
And bees have stings, although they be not great.
Seas have their source, and so have shallow springs,
And love is love, in beggars and in kings.
The ermine hath the fairest skin on earth,
Yet doth she choose the weasel for her peer;
The panther hath a sweet perfumed breath,
Yet doth she suffer apes to draw her near.
No flower more fresh than is the damask rose,
Yet next her side the nettle often grows.
Where waters smoothest run, deep'st are the fords,
The dial stirs, though none perceive it move;
The firmest faith is in the fewest words;*
The turtles sing not love, and yet they love.
True hearts have eyes and ears, no tongues to speak;
They hear and see, and sigh, and then they break.
✂··· Dowland's version, performed by the Chicago Early Music Consort
*The text in the New Oxford Book of Sixteenth-Century Poetry, ed. Emrys Jones, reads "The fairest faith is in the sweetest words." I have retained the other textual variants, but went with the better-known version of this line, because Jones' reading makes no sense in the context of the poem. |
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| Chinese signs |
[Mar. 18th, 2012|09:50 am] |
I saw an account of odd Chinese signs promoting one-child families, which account said the Chinese officials were changing the signs from scary messages to less scary. I wonder what kind of signs the Chinese use for other issues ... and how Babelfish would translate our US "Litter and it will hurt."
Supporting LJ vs the Russian DDOS by crossposting from DW. Comment here or at http://houseboatonstyx.dreamwidth.org/27022.html. |
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